Your Indian palate is likely to have a natural affinity towards Thai food. The tropical climate grows familiar spices, greens and herbs, so the flavours here are familiar, yet our taste buds quickly get busy deciphering a cuisine that Mumbai doesn’t seem to represent enough.

After eight outposts in Bangkok and several others in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Singapore, the garlic-and-lemon-laced cuisine of Thailand is served at Nara Thai. A 70-plus-seater restaurant in BKC, this one’s right next to Yauatcha, and is brought down by the same hospitality brand, KA Hospitality.

Nara Thai means a Thai woman, so a lot of the decor here is feminine and dainty. Think pretty purple platters, orchids stems spiralling out of glistening jars, bevelled mirrors and silken cushions.

The menu is clean and home-style, so expect sharp flavours that mean serious business. There is no fuss on your table, just simple dishes served as if meant to be shared by a family of four.

“We are just a family of food lovers,” says Karyna Bajaj who is spearheading the outlet and was inspired to bring down Nara Thai simply because she loved it. Known for their food-centric house parties, the Bajajs understand fine taste and that is what is reflected here.

“One does not need to put foam and smoke on everything. Consistency and potent flavours are true game changers,” she says echoing her father, restauranteur Kishore Bajaj from an old interview of ours.

The small plates at Nara Thai are flavour bombs. Spiced generously with the holy trinity of Thai cuisine—lemon juice, chilli and soy sauce, everything from fleshy pomelo salad to raw papaya salad is crunchy and a balanced combination of sweet and sour.

One of the mains, butterfly pea rice, caught our attention first. It’s a blue-coloured dish that hasn’t been artificially coloured, just naturally tainted with real blue colour of a flower. “In Thailand, butterfly pea flower is a bit of a craze. The dried version is had as tea and even used in shampoos for its health benefits!” says co-founder Yuki Srikarnchana. Butterfly pea flower is used here to colour drinks as well.

It’s important to note that Nara Thai has a special vegetarian menu with over 50 dishes and does interesting versions of everything from larb to massaman, yellow, green and red Thai curries.

While there isn’t an obvious representation of Thai style street food, something every food lover worth their pad thai craves for, you can see glimpses of it through milky Thai iced tea or a huaa kathi (coconut cream)-based ice cream served with red rubies, coconut jelly, sweet corn, pandan noodles and sticky rice. It’s like our very own street-style falooda. Didn’t we say your Indian palate is likely to have a natural affinity towards gorgeous Thai food?

The restaurant opens to public on September 11, 2017, and will take reservations for lunch and dinner. Address: Ground Floor, Raheja Towers, Opposite SIDBI Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai; Tel: 022-61378080; Narathai.in